Opinion
Reba McEntire could not help but break down in tears during the first live show of season 24 of “The Voice” on Monday night when a contestant performed one of her own songs.
Related: Reba McEntire Devastated After Country Singer Tom Nitti Leaves ‘The Voice’ Due To ‘Personal Reasons’
McEntire Brought To Tears By Contestant
Entertainment Tonight reported that Ruby Leigh, 16, to perform her coach McEntire’s 1990 single “You Lie.” During rehearsals, McEntire went so far as to say that Leigh performed the song better than she ever did.
Leigh knocked it out of the park with her live performance, bringing both McEntire and coach Gwen Stefani to tears.
“You blew it out of the water,” McEntire said as she wiped away tears. “Gwen and I are bawling!”
“There hasn’t been a time that you performed on this show that I haven’t gotten goosebumps,” coach Niall Horan said in agreement. “You are insane!”
Check out the performance for yourself in the video below.
McEntire And Other Coaches Sound Off
On the red carpet of the live show, McEntire talked about how exciting this season of “The Voice” is, saying, “I really couldn’t tell you [who might win].”
Her fellow coach John Legend agreed with her.
“The depth of the talent this season is better than I’ve ever seen it on this show since I’ve been here,” he said. “This is my eighth season and I’ve never seen just this level of quality across the board. I’m so impressed with our artists this year.”
“I have some amazing singers, and I think it’s just gonna come down to at this point people start to fall in love with not just the voice, but the person as well,” Gwen Stefani added. “It’s ridiculous this season. I know we say that every season and it always feels like that, but this one has a particularly tall order.”
Related: Reba McEntire Reveals Why She Almost Quit Singing After Her Mother’s Death
McEntire Replaces Blake Shelton On ‘The Voice’
This is McEntire’s first season serving as a main coach on “The Voice,” as she took the place of Blake Shelton after he left at the end of the 23rd season of the show earlier this year.
“It’s a lot of pressure, because nobody can replace Blake Shelton. He’s a huge personality and a wonderful person. So I’m just getting in there trying to have fun and represent country music as best I can,” McEntire told Newsweek back in September.
“It’s a well-oiled machine, so getting in at this time is marvelous,” she continued. “Everybody knows the game plan, from the crew, the producers. Everybody on the show is so nice, so sweet, and have been so helpful. I’m loving it.”
Stefani, who is married to Shelton, praised McEntire before the live show for how well she’s doing on the program.
“I think it is hard the first time you come here, ’cause its like, there’s just so much,” she said, according to WUSA9. “It’s also so amazing here — you get so inspired. I’m happy for her because I know that for someone that’s done everything in her life a million times over, to be able to kind of mentor people and to be able to watch the growth, it’s so inspiring.”
“Honestly she is so kind and so humble — I almost want to be like, ‘You’re Reba, like, stop!’” she continued with a laugh. “I think she’s just having such a blast and she’s gotten so good at the show really quick.”
McEntire chimed in to say that she’s learned some tricks since taking the coaching seat.
“The main thing that I have learned is to take it one minute at a time,” she said. “It is a lot to take in for the first time being a coach.”
Are you rooting for McEntire and her team on “The Voice?” Let us know in the comments section.
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